United States v. Joshua Simonson, No. 13-2715 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseCourt Description: Criminal Cases - Conviction. Arguments on appeal from conviction for tax-fraud conspiracy are frivolous and judgments of conviction are affirmed without comment.
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United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 13-2714 ___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee v. Joshua Simonson lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant ___________________________ No. 13-2715 ___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee v. Kristen Simonson, also known as Kristen Moody lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant ____________ Appeals from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City ____________ Submitted: June 25, 2014 Filed: June 30, 2014 [Unpublished] ____________ Before GRUENDER, BOWMAN, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. After a jury found Joshua and Kristen Simonson guilty of tax-fraud conspiracy and related offenses, the District Court1 imposed sentence on both defendants, and these consolidated direct criminal appeals followed. The Simonsons elected to proceed pro se at trial, as they do in this appeal. And as they did below, they raise a variety of arguments challenging the District Court s jurisdiction and the government s right to bring and pursue the criminal charges against them, and they base these arguments on their view, among others, that they are special, sovereign citizens; that the federal statutes of conviction are invalid; that only international jurisdiction is available; and that the government had a contract with them and breached it. These arguments are frivolous, see United States v. Hart, 701 F.2d 749, 750 (8th Cir. 1983) (per curiam); United States v. Sterling, 738 F.3d 228, 233 n.1 (11th Cir. 2013), cert. denied, 2014 WL 1621678 (May 27, 2014); and we affirm the judgments before us without extended discussion. ______________________________ 1 The Honorable Dean Whipple, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri. -2-
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